0		Google, and, Microsoft, are, most, discussed, technology, brands, Asia!

Asians are passionate about technology. There is no denying that. China is on the verge of crossing 1 billion telephone connections (mobile and landline). India has breached the 500 million mark. The same is the case with Internet, though the rate of growth is a little slow.

And when we discuss technology there is a good reason to believe that we will be discussing brands which bring the technology to us. Edelman has confirmed that. Edelman’s survey of Asia Pacific is the most comprehensive survey I have come across. It talks about brands discussed in various forums across Asia. Edelman created a Digital Brand Index.

800,000 online mentions of 233 major technology brands, contained within 4,348 influential channels monitored between July and September 2009.

Trust me and that is not an easy task. And their results are quite assuring. Google emerged as the top brand or the most discussed brand in various Asian countries. Microsoft, Nokia, Samsung, Blackberry, Intel and AMD are other top brands discussed in Asia.

Take a look at the top 2 brands in 8 Asia Pacific countries :

1. Indonesia – Intel & AMD
2. Malaysia – Google & Blackberry
3. India – Google & Microsoft
4. Australia – Google & eBay
5. Singapore – Singtel & Google
6. Taiwan – Microsoft & Google
7. Hong Kong – MSN & Yahoo
8. China – Nokia & Samsung

Methodology:

The DBI was conducted across eight key markets in the Asia Pacific region, namely, Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan and Singapore. Delivering deep online insight on a quarterly basis, the Asia Pacific Digital Brand Index monitors key brands from the following broad categories: Internet and Software, Consumer Electronics, Mobile and Telecommunications, Business and Consulting and IT and Technology, across a list of popular online channels – including influential blogs, forums, and online news outlets. The channels were selected by identifying conversations based on both qualitative as well as quantitative research.

The India list is dominated by 3 sectors - Internet, Computers and Phones. And there are no Indian brands in the list. Google and Microsoft are the top discussed brands in India. Twitter has emerged as the top channel to discuss brands. No wonder our ministers have taken a liking to it.

Other popular hang-outs for Indians – Orkut, YouTube and Blogspot.

Top brands across Asia:

Few observations :

1. Overall for the Asia pacific countries surveyed Internet/Computers and mobile phone brands ruled the roost.
2. Playstation is a popular brand in Australia and Hong Kong.
3. Facebook is the only social networking site (in Hong Kong) to feature in the top 10 list of any country surveyed.
4. Paypal is a top discussed brand in Australia.
5. For all the fuss, iPhone and Twitter did not figure in any of the top lists.
6. Google & Microsoft figured in the top list in 7 out of 8 countries surveyed. Not sure about China as the report is in Mandarin.

Who should pay attention to these?

Obviously, all the brands listed above. In addition, the brands which did not make it to the lists above. Internet has stopped being a phenomenon and started becoming a way of life. At least for most of us. People are turning to various forums and reviews to buy a product. Forums and blogs play a very important role.

Managing a company’s online brand is not a nice thing to have anymore. It is a job now. Many companies are already spending money to manage online reputation. There are also companies who pay other companies to erase any negative comments by inundating the Internet with positive content, just to confuse the search engines. That is a short-term solution and our search engines are becoming smarter by the day.

A more long-term solution is to embrace the online media of social networking sites, forums and blogs. The best thing for the companies is to watch what everybody is talking online. Infosys, second biggest IT Company in India, by revenues,  has closed a deal based on a Tweet. Tata DoCoMo a new entrant in Indian telecom space is using Twitter and social media to create brand awareness. A DTH operator in India has started paying attention to the feedback available online to improve its services. 

It pays to pay attention.The Digital brand Index has emphasized it.

Check out Edelman’s Digital Brand Index.